Duke Jumps On State, Coasts to Victory 98-85

The Duke Blue Devils started the Thursday night game against N.C. State red hot. Duke came out strong to the tune of a 58 point half. Duke shot an unbelievable 60% in the first half and was 10 of 17 from the 3 point line. Clearly after the loss at N.C. State there was a lot to prove. Both teams needed a win for different reasons. State would need to stop the free fall it has endured since the first meeting in Raleigh. Duke would need a win to try and keep pace with Miami who is still undefeated in conference play.

Duke had an efficient a half of basketball as they’ve had all year and did it with balanced scoring and not relying soley on the 3 but utilizing it as a weapon to augment the play of Mason Plumlee. Duke would ride its seniors in the first half with Plumlee scoring 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting and Seth Curry scoring 18 on 6 of 12 from the field and 4 for 9 from 3. These are just first half numbers! Curry ended the game with 26 points and Mason lead all scores with 3o points to go along with his 9 rebounds and his two assists.

KEY STAT for Mason is going 12 of 16 from the foul line..that is huge for Duke and if Mason can duplicate this feat on the road, enemies beware.

Knowing that teams are going to key on Mason and Seth, Duke would need for Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon to have good games. Both Cook and Sulaimon delivered double figure scoring efforts. Sulaimon who did not shoot the ball great did deliver 11 points and 5 rebounds. Cook, however, was on fire. Scoring 21 points and only missing 2 shots, and also dimed out 4 assist to only one turnover shoring up and correcting what was lacking in game 1 versus State.

Duke would do a lot of things better in this game. Defensively in the first half Duke was outstanding, limiting the assist numbers and rebounding the ball much better. Duke only allowed 4 assists to N. C. State while assisting on 14 baskets of their own.

The second half was not as pretty for Duke as the energy level that the Devils demonstrated in the first half was not there in the second. State would claw its way back into the game as Duke would cool from the floor. State would get the Duke lead down to 8 points but Duke would answer as Richard Howell and C.J. Leslie would both bow out due to fouls. It’s easy to harp on Duke for letting State back into the game, I am guilty of it as well. Fact is, State is no slouch, what they lack in defensive intensity they make up for in offensive prowess, Duke jumped on them early but as the game in Raleigh shows, there is not a lot of separation between these two teams. ACC tournament should be interesting with Miami playing out of their minds. Enjoy this win though, it was an important one to get and with Duke traveling to Boston College on Sunday another road opportunity is ripe for the picking as well as the matchup with UNC in Cameron – momentum is a good thing to have on your side.